


Yours for the Taking

by punk_rock_yuppie



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Pre-slash/implied slash, Trans Character, minor hurt/comfort, trans Jughead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-12
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:20:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9660956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_yuppie/pseuds/punk_rock_yuppie
Summary: anon prompted jarchie+nail polish





	

**Author's Note:**

> this is mostly fluffy friend stuff, but i of course see it as a precursor to a time when they actually start dating; featuring more trans jughead stuff, bc it's my fave.
> 
> hope you guys like it!

It’s such a small thing to notice, something so minor and negligible in the grand scheme of things—and yet, Archie notices, and can’t stop noticing.

 

When they’re twelve and Jughead comes out as transgender, he stops painting his nails. No one else seems to catch it, and no one comments on it. But it sticks in Archie’s brain, even if he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t quite understand what it all means—Jughead has always been Jughead, gender has never really mattered. He’s too young to really wrap his head around what Jughead’s going through and can’t connect all the dots, not when they’re twelve, but he doesn’t forget it.

 

 

He brings it up once before the great fallout of summer after freshman year. They’re sitting on the couch at Jug’s, gorging themselves on bad reality television and way too much takeout food. He reaches for Jughead’s hand and runs his touch along unpainted nails that are bitten short. Jughead yanks his hand back without a word and Archie lets it drop.

 

 

Archie doesn’t try again until they’ve been friends for a few months and the drama has settled; the town is still rattled after Jason’s death, but things are looking up.

He and Jughead are up in the treehouse doing homework when Archie goes for it.

“Why did you stop painting your nails?” He asks it evenly and nonchalant, staring at his AP Chem book without actually absorbing anything.

“What?” Jughead’s reply comes out in an uneasy laugh.

“Back when you came out, in middle school. You stopped painting your nails.”

Jughead is staring at him, mouth open in shock. “You noticed that?”

“Well, yeah. I tried to talk about it before, uh. Before everything, but you didn’t want to.” Archie finally sets his book aside. “It just seemed weird to me, that you stopped.”

Jughead starts to pick at his fingers and Archie wants to reach out to stop him. He doesn’t; he waits until Jughead continues speaking.

“After I came out, a couple guys gave me crap for painting my nails. They—it was stupid, they weren’t smart enough to actually make sense of it, but…” Jughead sighs. “They basically said I couldn’t wear nail polish _and_ be a boy, and I… I guess I believed them.”

“Jug,” Archie begins, but falls quiet at a pleading look.

“Even after I realized they were wrong, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. It’s stupid, but it is actually something I worry about, y’know? I work so hard to pass, and people are so narrow-minded sometimes. What if I wanted to wear makeup, why is that gonna negate who I am? So what if I want to wear cute things, or, or, _whatever_. It shouldn’t stop me; other people’s assumptions and small minds shouldn’t stop me from being who I want…” Jughead trails off.

“But it does,” Archie adds quietly. “I’m sorry, Jughead. I didn’t realize.”

Jughead laughs, wet and muffled. “It’s okay. Feels kind of nice to actually say it, I guess.” He pulls his knees to his chest and pillows his head in his arms. “Thank you, for noticing.”

“I’m just sorry it took me so long to actually talk about it.” Archie wades through the textbooks and papers and pencils strewn about the treehouse to sit beside Jughead. “Hey,” he nudges Jughead’s shoulder with his own. “Wanna paint my nails sometime?”

Jughead wipes at his eyes. “Really?”

“Why not?” Archie grins. “I could paint yours.”

“That would be disastrous. Have you ever painted someone’s nails before?”

“No,” Archie retorts. “How hard can it be?”

Jughead laughs and this time it’s loud, no longer watered down. It echoes in the treehouse and gets Hot Dog barking down in the yard. He laughs and falls against Archie. Archie doesn’t match the laugh with one of his own, but he does smile down at his friend.

“So, if I said I’d brought a couple bottles of nail polish with me, would that be weird, or…?” Archie’s hand inches toward his backpack where he _does_ have some nail polish stashed.

Jughead’s laughter trails off eventually. “No, no, c’mon. Bring them here, I’ll show you how it’s done.”


End file.
